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Plate or Combo Pants?


aiber
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And only one company manufactures them apparently. Ump-attire.com tried to sell a P-W version with adjustable waist like GD pants. Couldn't sustain for some reason. Never heard why. I have a pair of each plate and base from each seller. Except for the waistband they are indistinguishable.

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Associations don't want to tell members to buy it poly wools because of the price. Lower tier Honigs pants are crap!I bet if Honigs made PW price compatible to other brands they would put everyone else out of business as far as pants go.

What does your association wear? Do you have a choice?

As long as we are close to matching they don't care.

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And only one company manufactures them apparently. Ump-attire.com tried to sell a P-W version with adjustable waist like GD pants. Couldn't sustain for some reason. Never heard why. I have a pair of each plate and base from each seller. Except for the waistband they are indistinguishable.

 

 

I know Smitty tried and failed at Polywools, so there have been attempts at competition they just have not worked out.

 

You're going to read the words "relative" and "relatively" alot in the following explanation. If I missed one, and used a superlative or exaggeration, please keep in mind, this is all relative.

 

The lack of competition or a competing offering is due to the (relatively) incredible risk of doing so in a (relatively) narrow market. Face it, umpires are a narrow, specialized market. Oh sure, some of you may be wide, but that's beside the point. The majority of that market just needs pants that work, and can't be bothered to get the best pants out there. Thus, the market just got even narrower. When your company is just keeping its head above water making the SOC (Same Ol' Crap) year after year, it becomes very difficult to take the risk and tie up a substantial amount of capital in developing a new model. Especially one that has so many variables.

 

And it's these variables that you see the "dabbers" (my name for companies that dab their toe into the pool) attempt to address with adjusting waistbands and all these other complex things – they're trying to appeal to the widest market with the least amount of risk. They're trapped in the conventional structure of "design / develop / source / manufacture / produce / ship / distribute / sell". The damage inflicted on a venture, using this structure, when the product doesn't sell is catastrophic. All that material and labor cost and peripheral cost (shipping, distributing, etc.) is tied up in that product... sitting there... on a umpire supply store shelf... not going anywhere... because it's in a size 42 waist... and the umpire who would get it is in another state... across the country... and already uses a pair of your competitor's pants... and would need to try yours out before committing.

 

Now take that, and multiply it times 10... 20... 50... 100. 1000?

 

Marketing can only do so much to defeat that risk. If the product doesn't sell-out, and recoup all the linear costs incurred, a company is typically faced with no other resolution than to chalk it up as a failure, and not try it again. Somewhere in this, in order to change the outcome, a company has to change that structure I laid out above.

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  • 1 year later...

Often times when umpires first start out I don't  think they realize the initial start up cost of equipment and uniforms. So combo pants will let you get started out of the gate and earn a few game fees back to cover your initial investment. However, if you are serious and aspire to work higher levels of baseball, then you should again invest in both plate an  base pants. This way you will be accepted as  serious by both your peers and assigners.

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I got an emergency call to do a game in 1/2 an hour this week, and all my regular pants were either hang drying, dirty or at the cleaner. So dug back in my closet and pulled out a pair of +POS heathers, and shot down to the field. As I'm pulling them up I thought "&$^%, these are combos!". Yeah, my legs looked like 12 pounds of potatoes stuffed in a 10 pound bag.

 

I retired combos a dozen years ago, so left those pants in the umpires room for the Junior umpires.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Just now, nicshow said:

What IS the difference between combo and plate pants?

Combo pants are a compromise - they are wider than base pants to accommodate most shin guards comfortably, though sometimes can be tight, and they are slimmer in the leg than plate pants, so you don't look like you're wearing bell bottoms on the bases. They're generally fine, IMO, especially if just starting out or tight on money. But once you get to where you're in bigger games and want to make that good first impression - or just want better tailored stuff - it's better to get plate and base pants separately.

I've found the Smitty combos to be too tight to easily pull down over my thicker All-Star shins, but no problems with Cliff Keen combos.

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3 minutes ago, nicshow said:

I wear combos behind the plate with no problems whatsoever. If plate pants are even bigger and roomier, I don't understand the insistence on wearing them over combos.

Well, like I said, it depends on the manufacturer of both the pant and shin guard. They work for you - great. The Smitty combo I had was too tight over my All-Star shins so now they're base pants.

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I have a pair of combos and I have never worn them behind the plate, I only use for the bases. The problem with combo pants is "most" guys look like the squeezed their shins into them and the pants don't drape properly. That is the one critique I give to most new guys coming up through our High School ranks. Buy plate pants and leave the combos for weekend ball(USSSA, Cal Ripken, Babe Ruth, Pony, etc)

As weird as it sounds I buy my base pants one size larger than plate pants...I have have thick thighs and a rear end. I was an offensive lineman and still carry that body after 25 years. Field pants are slimmer cut and I just need the extra room in seat and thighs to be comfortable. 

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